


Desiccated

by CrawlCrawlCrawl



Series: Hollow Knight One-Shots I've Made [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Boss design, Cliffhanger, Gen, Grey Mourner is mentioned, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28279812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrawlCrawlCrawl/pseuds/CrawlCrawlCrawl
Summary: “Here lie the many bugs who perished during the infection.  May their souls rest in peace.”
Series: Hollow Knight One-Shots I've Made [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106597
Kudos: 12





	Desiccated

The Knight was on the eastern side of the Resting Grounds, currently backtracking through the cramped hallways underneath main grounds. It had just passed the entrance to the Grey Mourner’s mansion and was searching for something it had seen before that it was unable to access previously. Slashing away an entombed husk, the Knight settled upon a grand doorway, marked with the king’s brand. There was an engraving next to the door, its words glowing at the approach of the Knight. 

“Here lie the many bugs who perished during the infection. May their souls rest in peace.”

Holding out its own king’s brand, the doorway began to open up, revealing a massive atrium with a large pool. Said pool was filled with hundreds upon thousands of dead bugs, causing the smell in the air to be nauseating. There wasn’t much else inside the room, aside from a few lumafly lanterns and a large altar with a switch on it at the opposite side. Going around the dead-filled pool, the Knight made its way to the altar. Standing before it, the Knight noticed the intricacies it held. The altar was raised up to just above the Knight’s head, its edges adorned with flourishing designs engraved into the steel. At the back of the altar was a statue of the Pale King himself, its hands holding a nail. The switch was just as ornate, with even more of the regal designs etched into its composition. 

The Knight grabbed onto the edge of the altar and pulled itself up, its legs waggling as it hoisted itself on top. Now on top of the altar, it put both hands on the switch and yanked it to the side, causing a loud rumble to echo throughout the atrium. The rumbling began to pick up more and more, causing the Knight to fall off the altar, its horns stuck in the ground as it flailed helplessly. Just as it managed to get itself unstuck from the ground, an orange mist began to snake its way down the atrium, before beginning to settle on the pool of dead bodies, seeping into each rotten corpse. Knowing a battle was about to commence, the Knight unsheathed its nail and took a battle stance. 

Suddenly, a towering beast emerged from the pool of corpses, its vague outline that of a generic bug. However, a closer look revealed that it wasn’t a beast at all, but an amalgamation of corpses formed into the shape of a creature. Before the Knight could further inspect the beast, it slammed down its hand, scattering corpses loose onto the ground, and let out a harrowing scream that was not a singular scream but all of the corpses that comprised its form screaming in agony all at once. The Knight managed to roll out of the way just in time and was able to get a closer look at the monster. The eyes of every corpse were open, each staring down the Knight intently, and despite its perceived lack of sentience, the Knight felt a cold chill of terror creep its way down its back. Letting out another scream, the monster prepared itself for another hand slam, but the Knight had now begun to dash at the abomination. The fight had begun.

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to take a short break from The Hermit to write this one shot. This was a boss design that I've had floating in my head for a while now, and I'm glad to have it put down into words! Let me know if you'd like to see more small fics like this in the future!
> 
> As always, constructive criticism and general feedback are appreciated!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed. :)


End file.
